Financial Partners Inc: Building Community Through Crisis and Beyond

0:02Hi, and welcome to this week's episode of the Epic Entrepreneurs podcast where we are all about helping business owners just like you achieve success. So we don't do fancy smancy. We don't do flashing lights. We don't do a lot of things that a lot of podcasts will do. These are just real stories about real people and their entrepreneurial and business experiences. We go into their wins, their challenges, and their learnings. So we hope you enjoy it.

0:35hey there welcome this week's episode of epic entrepreneurs i'm bill gilliland with action coach business growth partners and today we've got an amazing podcast for you i'm with cory and justin from financial partners inc and they're the title sponsors for the wnc Asheville Business Summit. You need to get out there and get your tickets now. It's wncsummit.com. Everything's out there, how to get tickets and everything. We're going to talk to them a little bit about what it is they do, what they've learned, give you some taste for what it's going to be like. We'll take it from there. Welcome, guys.

1:22Thanks, Bill. Thanks, Bill. I don't know who wants to field this, but tell us a little bit about Financial Partners. Yeah, I can go, I suppose. That's great. Yeah, so Financial Partners, we are an independent wealth management and financial planning organization. We've been around, oh, geez, close to 40 years. Myself, Corey, I'm here in Elkhart, Indiana. We've got offices in Chicago and Fort Wayne. and most recently, welcome Justin to the squad. And he's down in Asheville. So that's our affiliation there. We do everything from philanthropy work and tax planning strategies, full-on wealth management, financial planning, insurance, you name it.

2:11So we're with LPL Financial. That's our broker dealer. And we are just basically a full-service brokerage firm. So thanks for having us. Yeah, no, it's awesome. We really appreciate you getting behind the Asheville. business summit. It is, it's going to be, it's going to be really, really, really great. You know, of course it was really great last year and Justin helped us out last year, but then we had a hurricane about a month later. So it was, it was, you know, we, yeah, we had, we had great momentum going into the fall and then bam, you know, we hit the, so it was a, so we're coming out of that.

2:46So why did you guys decide to support the summit? What's that about? I think it's okay. I'll take that one. Absolutely. Yeah. You know, when Bill, you and I have been partnered together in some way, shape or form going back several years now, and I've always admired how you work with your clients and you've helped me a lot as well. But beyond that, just a coming back together after this crisis of the community and to be in and hold space for each other to chart a new path. Right. We want to be at the forefront of that. And, you know, we'll talk a little bit about, you know, what conscious leadership looks like and creating that new path forward.

3:31There's a kind of a phrase, you know, never let a crisis go to waste. And I think the business community really has an opportunity here in Asheville to reshape the future. And, you know, we want to be a part of that. Yeah, that's awesome. And we really appreciate that. I mean, the theme is basically how do we take this and make it a catalyst, not how do we sit around and say, well, woe is me because we had a hurricane. That's not our style anyway. But it's like how do we take it and move forward as a catalyst for growth, not as a thing. So that fits great. So what are you guys going to talk about?

4:15Well, we'll get up there, obviously, and introduce our firm to everybody and who we are, like Corey just did, and go look a little bit more in depth into, you know, who our ideal clients are, you know, what our mission is and what our values are. And so we'll talk a little bit about that. And then that'll segue into a conversation about building resilience at the intersection of crisis healing and business leadership, right? So we've experienced this crisis. We've had about a year to start that healing process. And now what does leadership look like going forward coming out of that? I'll talk some about the organizations that I had the pleasure of being involved with at the time of the hurricane.

5:04I was the chairman of the board of the largest food bank in the west side of the state. So we had Banna Food Bank, which is kind of our umbrella organization for food insecurity. and their facilities were down by the river and were washed away. So it was us at HCM that kind of had to jump into action for Western North Carolina. And through our partnerships with 50 area farms, we were able to have, at least in Haywood County, we were able to have fresh produce out at all the community centers by day three, I believe. I'll get those numbers before I give my talk. But really watching that team, you know, supporting that team just jump into action and use their network.

5:50And they're really pioneering new ways to address food insecurity and in the form of a food hub. and how we took that crisis and all the influx of resources from the business community, from the philanthropy community, which were significant. And we were able to leverage those new resources into this Food Hub plan where we were planning on doing a two-year feasibility study. It was looking like, you know, a$7 million project from the ground up. And we were able to use this opportunity that came out of this crisis to do it for less than a million dollars and achieve it. So things like that, stories like that, whether it's the Pearl Institute who opened their doors to first responders with free trauma therapy or whether it was the healing hub.

6:45Here comes my little son. He's going to say hi. He just got home from school. Say hi, Stephen. Hey, Stephen. Welcome to the podcast. Perfect timing. So the Pearl Institute, you know, the Pearl opened their doors and offering that trauma therapy kind of out of the gate for those that were the front lines of, you know, pulling, you know, just long hours and rescue operations. or how I was invited to a place called Kripalu with about 20 other area, nonprofit leaders and business and community leaders and how we sat for a week in trauma therapy and in leadership training and sacred ceremony and started to develop this new way of being in community or at least pulling forward ways of being in community and how we could have a more resilient structure.

7:43So I'll talk about a few of those organizations and what they've done, what they did, what they've done, and what they plan to do going forward. Yeah, it really was or is still an effort between a lot of constituencies to continue to create this catalyst situation for us. Let's talk a little bit about your business. and some of your learnings as, because you guys are actually business owners as well. So what do you think some of the common misconceptions out there about running a business are?

8:27Oh, common misconceptions. Well, I mean, for me, and I'll probably speak for Jess, I mean, what we do is extremely enjoyable and very, very fulfilling. You know, meeting individuals who have a need, uncovering those needs, doing the planning process for them and kind of getting them to their goals ultimately, obviously, which is retirement or philanthropic giving or what have you, whatever it is. But the business aspect of it obviously is difficult at times, but that's the minutia part of it, right? You know, the accounting stuff and the paperwork and all that stuff. And we have tremendous people in place through financial partners that help us do those things.

9:10So Justin and I and Scott and Adam and the rest of the team that are the planners can focus on the deliverables of helping our clients achieve goals. So I would say the biggest misconception is a lot of people say that there's tons of headaches and it might not be worth it. But I'll tell you that it's extremely, at least for me, extremely fulfilling. And that would probably be the biggest one that I would highlight. Yeah. So what you're saying is people think, well, you get into business and it's going to be a bunch of headaches and it's going to be hard. But your experience is, hey, this is something that's an awesome experience.

9:49What do you – I mean, you guys are growing. What do you attribute the growth to?

9:56Corey? Yeah, yeah. I mean, I think a lot of it has to do with focusing on our deliverables and our process. We have a very refined process that's extremely spelled out. It's copyrighted. It's called our bull time formula. So it's easy to understand for the prospect and for the client. And so, I mean, I think that's attributed to a lot of our growth. One of the other things, too, is, and I don't know, I could speak for Justin, But we're, you know, we're in the business of sales sort of, but I don't liken us to be salespeople, if that makes any sense. We like to do business with folks that are like minded and have, you know, the same goals and aspirations as we do.

10:46and I feel that that allows us to kind of figure out who we want to work with and easily identify us as a firm for individuals that want to do business with people that have those same like interests and desires. I think one of the other things too that I'll highlight specifically to our firm and one of the things that attracted me to Justin was his affinity for philanthropic giving and local community support. One of the things that is probably the biggest thing for us is community participation and give back locally here in the Midwest. You know, we participate with junior achievement a lot.

11:25And we have our own course where we teach financial literacy to younger students who might not otherwise get that in school. No, well, let's just say they're not going to get it. Well, that's one of the reasons why we do it. Yeah, they're not getting it in school. The schools are dropping the ball on that. So thank you for jumping in there. Yeah. Yeah. And I think that that is, you know, it lights a fire under us as well, just because I don't know if I speak for you guys, but yeah, I didn't really get it right. I mean, it was kind of a lesson that I had to learn about why should I be saving for retirement or using my company's retirement plan or the importance of life insurance and being in the market and all these things that, you know, maybe a 5 ,000 foot view that I got, you know, or we got in college and probably not much in high school at all.

12:17But yeah, and I think that's attributed to a lot of our growth, just being present and, you know, visible in the community. Yeah, I'll echo that, Corey, that the, just that community involvement and making sure that we're taking our resources and putting them back to create resilience in the community, right? So that's going to be a big part of the last part of my talk is how we as business leaders, that's our job is to lift up our community with our success. And we saw that in Helene, the importance of people running towards helping others. And, you know, sometimes it takes a big crisis to, you know, remind us of that, that we're actually better together, right?

13:09We're always better together. We can reach across aisles. We can, you know, find common solutions to, you know, common problems. But the other thing I think key to growth is values, right? You know, just having a set of core values of, you know, being honorable, being on time, being present, you know, being available to our clients. I think it's a really important thing. Having a great team. I've just been, you know, so impressed with FBI's back office and everybody that we have here that keeps the wheels on the bus while we go out and drive it around, right? So, yeah, I think it's just a lot of alignment and a lot of – he's – there comes another kid, so school's out.

13:58Well, that brings me to my next question, which is basically – I'm interested all the time in how – I mean, you guys work hard. You do a lot for your communities. You're doing business. So how do you balance personal life with the demands of business? Time blocking. yeah time blocking and really good um support uh you know i mean i i feel as if we we are very blessed in the fact that we've got our um you know our administrative support in the background that handles all the day-to-day uh phone calls and paperwork where you know Justin and us and I and the advisory team can can focus on the deliverables, which makes makes work life balance much better.

14:50You have to focus on things that you're not good at. Right. And you can kind of segment those things out and outsource those those activities. And so, you know, I'm not good with paperwork. I'm not very good with the organizational aspect of it. I'm very good at the wealth management side and, and, and delivering the financial plan and all the numbers and things like that. And I learned a long time ago that, you know, if we, if we don't segment those things that you're just going to be steadily mediocre. So you might as well be really good at a couple of things and, and outsource the rest. Yeah, yeah.

15:26Yeah, I've always said you can't do this stuff by yourself. And so, you know, that's the other thing. So this may be an interesting question. Usually I ask people, what qualities do you look for employees? But I'm going to ask you a different question. What qualities do you look for in clients? Yeah, go ahead, Justin. Yes, some of those same things, right? A set of core values, community involvement, shared interests, but also success, right? I focus on kind of that 40 to 60 range of business owners and highly compensated individuals and helping them and their families leverage that success. It might be recent success.

16:16It may be going on for a little while, but making sure they're leveraging it towards their goals. But an ideal client, too, is a partner. You know, we have it in the title, right? It's financial partners. And it's because it is a partnership and it does require engagement from the client. And I think the best clients are the ones that, you know, take a somewhat studious approach to this with us and are engaged with us and, you know, a part of the teams. You know, we're working as a team for their benefit. Yeah, I think it has to be that way in professional services. I think you can't – you have to have client involvement.

16:57If they just want you to do all the work, it's not – it just doesn't usually work. We're going to need some information. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, they still have to – I mean, you make recommendations, but they still have to make decisions. Yeah. And so what we do is – a part of that process is a fit meeting to kind of go over what we do and what the expectations are from us to them. and back and forth so that we can kind of get the lay of the land, make sure that it's a good fit from a personal standpoint and then from a professional standpoint as well. But, Corey, do you want to add anything to that?

17:31Yeah, I mean, I think, too, I mean, what we look for in clients are people that also want to be advocates for us, right? So we can kind of foster that partnership through confidence and mutual growth. You know, we've been fortunate to have very good clients that speak highly of us in the community and and refer us refer us new prospects and clients who generally have the same like interests and desires as those people because they're kind of all hanging out. Right. Isn't isn't that interesting? Right. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's good. All right. Let's do a little bit of a quick fire round just to each one of you.

18:10just give me a couple of sentences on this. So BEPIC is an acronym. So I'll give you what it is, and then you give me the – we'll go – we'll do it Corey, Justin, in that order. So we'll let Corey go first, and then Justin, you can give it to me. Oh, I've got some time to think about it. Yeah, yeah, we'll give you – Corey's going to be quick, man. He's from the Midwest. He's got it, right? He's a smart. Yeah, yeah. So B stands for bring the energy. so what are a couple what a couple of your thoughts about bringing energy um well i think i'll talk about it two ways so i think from a client approach standpoint um if you're not energetic in in the discovery meetings and the financial planning delivering meetings and you don't have some sort of energy um i think that really reflects negatively on on the advisor and and the firm because it doesn't seem as if we're we're very um excited to do business together, right?

19:06And then same thing can be said for, you know, the staff internally. We like to have fun. We like to have fun here. You know, whether it's playing cards in the office every morning or going out to lunch together or hanging out in social circles together. It's a very lighthearted office. And all of the staff here are very similar in personality types, which I think reflects favorably on our firm and is easily distinguishable when our clients kind of come in and work with us for sure. Love it. Love it. Love it. Justin? Well, we've often said, Bill, you mean business is energetic, right? It's an exchange of energy.

19:49And if you're bringing overly serious energy or a smartest guy in the room energy or, you know, various ways you can approach this that maybe aren't of that kind of lighthearted, you know, pleasant energy that Corey's talking about. These are weighty topics, what we work with. So it is important that we, you know, bring some brevity, I think is the word, right? You know, to where it's not like, I remember when I was first getting started in the business, And this was a big eye opener. And I don't think it spoke to my energy necessarily, but just how at that place we kind of marketed ourselves and everything.

20:37And the woman came in, she sat down at my desk and she said, Justin, I feel like I'm always coming into the funeral home when I come to see you. And I was like, that's not good. We don't want that. We want you to feel great. You know, and so it was in those moments where I, you know, as a young advisor, I realized the real importance of being excited about the work that we do. And it comes over time when you've worked with clients for a while and then you've got a plan in action and then you've been gone doing it for about five years and you can point to how that plan is really working in their favor.

21:14And as you get into your career and you can point to a few of those successes, it's a lot easier to show up and be excited. But it's really important that you do. And not to say that I didn't in the beginning, but I think it's a little easier after you've got some success under your belt. Yeah, I also think that sometimes when you start a career or a job, we often think that we have to be a certain way instead of being ourselves. And so that being yourself works better all the time. It took me a while to get there and understand that blending who I am with what I do is actually the way to go. It's not that they should be separated.

21:53Oh, 100%. If I'm not in a place where I can be myself, then maybe it's time to look for something else. That's really important. 100%. The E is education. Thoughts on education. Well, I mean, I think as advisors, we need to stay educated, obviously. in just the general markets and products and solutions for our clients. But I think more importantly, how we deliver education to our clients, right? Making sure that they understand what we're doing for them, you know, so that there's no blank stare. I mean, you know, just having them reaffirm that they understand the process and how we do business.

22:31Yeah, I like that. Justin, you got anything to add to that? Just that we leverage best-in-class software at FPI to provide that clarity, right? You know, if we're educating them, then we're providing clarity. If they're walking out of our office just as, if not more confused than when they walked in, we didn't educate them very well. So we use a software called AssetMap that's really nice that kind of brings everything into one page. If you can envision a March Madness bracket, but you're at the center as the champions and all of your various teams or your financial teams are working in the wings.

23:11It's really a great tool to educate on the client's current situation and to plan for the future. I like that. No, I like it. I like it. So, yeah, I love it. The P is planning. So, you guys are planners. So, what are your thoughts on planning? I mean, I think it's the foundation for our industry. You know, with the planning processes, not only data gathering and fact gathering, but understanding the intrinsic thoughts on our clients and what they the way that they feel about markets and volatility. And and so I think, you know, the plan isn't just, OK, we're delivering the initial financial plan.

23:51It's ongoing. It's living. It's breathing. We revisit it multiple times a year with all of our clients. And the plan can shift and change. But if you don't have a plan, it generally doesn't work out as well. Yeah, love it. Justin? It's the value add in our industry now, right? It used to be just a lot of what we did was just investment selection. But really, the value is in the planning, right? Because that way, the investment selection is in the client's best interest. Because all of the data has been gathered and we can make an educated decision. Yeah, I love it. Yeah, I love it. I stands for inspiration.

24:30Thoughts on inspiration. Want to go first?

24:38Inspiration. Yeah, I'll go first. It's really important to look up to people that you're working with, I think. And I really look up to Corey and everything FPI has built. and to be part of it is awesome. And I am inspired each day to get up and help clients. But also, I'm inspired in so many other ways. What we've been through over the last year here is, as difficult as it's been, one of the most inspiring experiences of my entire life, to see what people can do when the chips are down. So that's my take on inspiration. I love it. Corey? Yeah, I mean, I think I'll go back to your E, right? We're bringing the energy.

25:23I think without finding inspiration, it's hard to be energetic. And whether that be, I mean, Justin and I have a mutual love for music and live music. And I was just out at our national conference the last few days and saw a couple of live music concerts. And it got me inspired again, right? To be creative and to learn. Or my children are getting ready to go back to school and, you know, see the projects that they bring home. And it's just, you can find inspiration anywhere. But I think that that is a full circle back to, you know, being energetic and bringing that energy. I love it. I love it.

25:58Okay, the last one, C's commitment. Yeah, I mean, as far as our industry is concerned, I mean, we are fully committed to the planning process and working with our clients full circle, right? So we always work hand in hand with the, their remaining professional team, right? Their attorneys, their CPAs, making sure everybody's on board and everybody's committed to, to that plan. And I mean, I think without, without the commitment, at least on that side, on the individual planning side, things can get a little off kilter. And, you know, when you lose that kind of commitment and you got to have its buy-in, right?

26:43too, even for us and for the client. The client needs to buy in and stay committed in order for us to all be successful and get where we're trying to get to. Perfect. Yeah, I don't really have anything to add to that. I was going to talk about how the client has to be committed as well. But yes, we are committed to their success. Yeah, I love that. I love that. So, So what do you wish somebody had told you before? Start your business sooner. Be an entrepreneur sooner. It's not that scary. It's not a bad thing to work for someone else, but I think being a business owner and being able to do things your own way, whether it's branding and strategy and marketing or meeting people like Justin and bringing them on board and opening an office in Asheville, it's liberating.

27:36uh it's very um motivating um and the flexibility that it allows for again going back to that work life balance is just it's incredible and i don't think i would have that if i if i hadn't been an entrepreneur and a small business owner love it love it justin what do you wish you had known or somebody somebody had told you years ago yeah they probably told me i wish i had I wish I had internalized it and integrated it. But don't take things personally. Everybody's got a lot of stuff going on. And a no doesn't mean necessarily about you. Maybe just not the right time to trust more. That if you are being yourself and you are being authentic and you've got a great set of core values and you're coming at it from the right place, you will attract the ideal client for you.